


Coffee, Energy Drinks, and Proximity

by JackofAllMasterofNone



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: College AU, F/M, non-werewolf au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-19
Updated: 2015-05-19
Packaged: 2018-03-31 08:33:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3971164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackofAllMasterofNone/pseuds/JackofAllMasterofNone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by this post on tumblr:  http://dancing-through-fandoms.tumblr.com/post/119388723719/m-azing-korrakun-my-favorite-college#notes</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coffee, Energy Drinks, and Proximity

Stiles was running late.  He snagged the coffee off the counter and threw a crumpled pile of bills down before sprinting out the doors of the shop, a rushed “Thanks!” trailing behind him.  A few ‘excuse me’s were necessary as well - Stiles tripped over several people while he sipped his coffee and wove through the small crowds that were beginning to emerge.  Stiles ran haphazardly through the university hallways, passing the lecture room twice before circling back through the hallway and bursting through the correct doors.  

A swift glance at the teacher let Stiles know the man was obviously asleep.  The slides played automatically as a few students took pictures while others took notes.  Nearly tripping on his own feet, Stiles jumped down a few stairs and took the seat at the end of the middle row.  He set his coffee down and unzipped his bag, rifling through multiple notebooks and papers until he found an empty one and a pack of pencils.  Stiles tossed these carelessly onto the small desk in front of him before tugging the Monster Energy drink out of it’s place and popping it open.  

With a sigh, he opened his now half-full coffee and poured the energy drink inside.  He popped the lid of the to-go cup back on, shook his head, and cheerfully announced, “I’m going to die.”  Stiles then chugged the concoction, and began taking notes.

Sitting in her 7am class, Lydia Martin was nearly the only one conscious.  Even the professor looked as though he was ready to fall asleep at the podium.  Lydia hoped he wouldn’t; rumor had it that this was the last semester the class was being offered, and she needed it to graduate.  After another moment of silence, the professor blinked straightened up, and switched on the projector.  Lydia flicked her strawberry blonde curls over a shoulder and began taking notes, already half a page ahead of the rest of the drowsy class.  

Five minutes into the class time, the back doors burst open and a boy rushed into the room.  In a flurry of motion, he sat down in the open spot next to Lydia and began pulling all his stuff out of his back.  She watched, stunned, as he mixed a Monster Energy drink with his coffee and then quickly drank the whole thing after cheerfully announcing his imminent death.  As he began to take notes, Lydia turned her attention once again to the screen, following his example.  Her lips pursed in disapproval as he hummed under his breath, knees tapping against the bottom of his desk as his whole body hummed with energy.  Somehow, she managed to concentrate as the slides continued to scroll through the lesson material.  

Halfway through class, the professor woke again, and turned off the projector right as it was switching to “Lesson Two: _______.”  Obviously, he hadn’t gotten that far with the slides yet.  “Right.  Right, good job.  Please discuss what you’ve learned today with someone next to you for….” he stopped, looking at the clock.  “Until fifteen minutes before class ends.”

Stiles immediately turned to the strawberry blonde on his right.  His left was an empty column of stairs, after all.  “Hi.  I’m Stiles.  That’s not my name.”  He shook his head rapidly.  “Note to self: less Monster Energy.  It wasn’t this bad yesterday.”  

The girl rolled her eyes.  “That much caffeine is not good for you.”

Stiles rolled his right back, then felt slightly nauseous.  “Mornings aren’t good for me.  If I didn’t need this class to graduate, I wouldn’t be here this early.  Who came up with the idea of classes at seven o’clock in the morning?”  His conversation partner didn’t reply.  “What’s your name, anyway?  Not that it matters because you’re totally out of my league.”

Lydia narrowed her eyes.  “First of all, the concept of leagues is stupid.  Physical attractiveness shouldn’t be the decider of who you spend the rest of your life with.  Unfortunately, it’s one of the main predictors of attraction.  As long as we spend time together in this class, being this close, you have a chance of me becoming attracted to you, putting you in ‘my league.’  Proximity is the best predictor of attraction.  Second, my name is Lydia Martin, and I’m seriously concerned about your health.”

The boy - Stiles? - waved off her concerns.  He was still vibrating, his fingers twitching, feet tapping, and head bopping to some unheard beat.

“So, what did you learn this lesson?  Anything interesting, aside from what was in the textbook?” Stiles, which was not his name, said.

“The slides quoted the book word for word,” Lydia told him, frowning at the professor.  “Anyone who read the textbook would be able to teach this class.”

Stiles shrugged.  “It’s seven-thirty.  In the morning!”  Stiles forced his eyes to turn away from the lights on the ceiling.  “Everyone deserves a little slack this early.”  After a brief pause, in which Stiles counted all thirty-seven of his pencils, twice, he looked back up at Lydia.

“If it’s all quoted from the text, why take notes?”

Lydia looked down at her open notebook.  She had filled three pages with her notes.  “They’re mostly my thoughts on the slides, with an indicator of the number of the slide I was talking about.”  She noticed Stiles shrug again, and grabbed his chin to yank his eyes away from the florescent lights on the ceiling.  “You are going to have trouble focusing on anything today.”

“Not true,” Stiles protested, his cheeks still squished between her fingers.  “I could totally count every beautiful hair on your head right now.”  Lydia dropped his face, but he was concentrating too hard on her hair to notice.

After class, Stiles and Lydia walked through the hallways together.  “This is really your only class of the day?” she asked him.

“I don’t do mornings well,” Stiles admitted.  Lydia didn’t bother to hide her grin.  “I need the help of caffeine, which gets me all jittery.  So no more classes for me.  This is thankfully my only morning class.  Could you imagine me doing this every morning?”  Stiles tripped down the stairs and sat at the bottom, rubbing his head as he waited for Lydia to descend normally.

“I’m totally out of your league,” Stiles told her as she helped him up.

“We’ve already been over this,” she responded.  “You might have a chance.”

“Right, right.  Proximity.  I’ll just have to stick close.”  Lydia smiled at him, and he returned the gesture.

Stiles walked with her across campus to her next lecture, and continued to walk to her to nearly every class for the next three years.

 


End file.
